The Meaning Of `Class'

ANN LANDERS Syndicated Columnist

July 15, 1995|Ann Landers

Dear Ann Landers: Your definition of class is something that should be run at least once a year. So many people need to be reminded that class has nothing to do with having money. Would you please run it again? - Eleanor in Portsmouth, Va.

Dear Eleanor: With pleasure. Thanks for asking. Here it is:

Class by Ann Landers Class never runs scared. It is sure-footed and confident. It can handle whatever comes along.

Class has a sense of humor. It knows that a good laugh is the best lubricant for oiling the machinery of human relations.

Class never makes excuses. It takes its lumps and learns from past mistakes.

Class knows that good manners are nothing more than a series of small, inconsequential sacrifices.

Class bespeaks an aristocracy that has nothing to do with ancestors or money. Some wealthy "bluebloods" have no class, while others who are struggling to make ends meet are loaded with it.

Class is real. It can't be faked.

Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.

Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch."Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because that person is comfortable with himself.

If you have class, you've got it made. If you don't have class, no matter what else you have, it doesn't make any difference.

Dear Ann Landers: I have been dating a man for two years. "Nick" and I are very much in love and see each other almost every night. Twice a year, we drive to Florida to visit his mother. She is the sweetest woman I have ever known, and I love her to pieces. Nick's married daughter and his son both like me. My grown son likes Nick very much.

I don't think Nick will find a woman who is better suited to him. He tells me he loves me. So - why won't he ask me to marry him? We've talked about marriage, and he says, "When I'm ready to marry, I'm sure it will be you."I want to spend the rest of my life with Nick, and I don't want to waste any more time. I feel he owes me an explanation. - Frustrated in Fort Worth Dear Fort Worth: Don't give Nick any ultimatums. Simply ask him how he would feel about your dating other men.

If he says "OK," go ahead and do it. If he says, "No way," tell him you want to nail down a wedding date for 1996. Have a calendar in your hand, and let him pick the month.